They had been dancing this dance for a while now. It had been a few months since St. Patrick’s Day when Roslyn had brought breakfast over to his flat and paid attention to his injury. He was healed now, mostly—even though it still smarted every now and again—and they had been going out almost every Friday night since the night. Ashley had originally thought to make it a date, but after a few weeks of chickening out when it came time to make a move, he realized his hang-up. She was his coworker, his babysitter, really, and it wasn’t right for him to try to blur the lines of business and pleasure. Friendship with a coworker was one thing, but dating a coworker was different. Now, though, officially, she no-longer needed to babysit him. His probationary period had come to an end. While this was, in many ways, a happy time for Ashley, he couldn’t help thinking that he would miss her dearly when he didn’t see her every day.
Roslyn was unlike any woman that Ashley had met before, and it was a breath of fresh air. She reminded him a little of Nadia, with her fierce spirit. Ashley had been ready to make Nadia his wife before the tragedy happened, and he was still scarred a bit from the whole endeavor. Between Nadia’s death, his next ex who looked just like her, and, his most recent brush with love, Casey—Ashley worried that he would not be able to provide the right kind of love Roslyn needed. He worried. He was scared of how he felt towards her. He knew it was love, to some degree, but he wasn’t sure just how in love he really was with her. Love with Casey had been hard and fast. They had moved quickly. He moved in after only a month, just “crashing at her place†and soon he was spending every night in bed with her and every morning making love to her. Until, of course, he bailed. He got scared of how strongly he felt for Casey, and he ran. He didn’t want to do this to Roslyn. She could do better than him, really, and he knew it. Still, he cared very much for her and definitely wanted to take things between them a little farther.
He was pretty sloshed now. Ros could really hold her liquor, and Ashley was a drinker on a good day—but he was enjoying being out-drunk and having to focus on competition while playing pool with her. She was good at it, better than he thought she would be. He often hustled pool for some side money, but when he started off letting Ros win, it gave her confidence…. Which, in turn, made her better at the game. When he tried to turn tables on her, she still won against his best game. He thought that was super cute.
He slid up behind her, eyeing the solid-colored balls that she was shooting. “Hey…†He began, with a grin. “Want me to show you how to shoot a combo?†He asked. “Or, well, you probably don’t need me to.†He admitted playfully. “I don’t need you getting any better at this game, or I’ll lose face.†He teased. He put an arm around her, helping himself. He slid up behind her, close, and breathed closely the directions into her ear. He moved his hands along her hands, his front against her back. He helped her shoot the shot, and grinned at her, taking the moment to kiss her cheek playfully.
“You’re gonna give me a run for my money, huh Ros?†He teased, pulling back just enough to eye her up. “Not that you’ve ever done anything less.†He smiled. “You’ve just about won this game, though. How about we head back to mine for a few drinks?†He offered, trying to be gutsy.
@Roslyn Hayes
